The Progressive Blog Alliance HQ

Though we seem settled and our thoughts determined by preconceived directions and boundaries, we are, in fact, in constant mental conflict. As rational beings as well as evolved animals, our minds move in two often opposing directions, the logical (mechanical) direction (which we revere, probably way too much) and the tribal (communal) direction (which we hold in contempt, but adhere to nevertheless with great passion and perseverance). In effect we live in two entirely different worlds which must, even so, function efficiently together if we are to function effectively.

Our logical self is mostly mechanical in its contrivances, whereas our tribal self is based largely on instinctive reactions to situations. Both are shaped by the passing down of information (for our mechanical [dehumanized] self’s instruction) and of tradition (for our instinctive [communal] self’s enrichment). The shape of information creates a foundation on which more information can be built and by which the usefulness of articles that surround us can be determined. The structure grows and is refined from generation to generation as is the usefulness of and effectiveness of our tools and weapons. The shape of tradition determines our culture, the things we value and how we value ourselves, others and our surroundings in general.

Crossposted from the Republic of T.
If you're a regular reader of my blog, or just happened by from another link, I have a favor to ask of you. I need you to make a phone call for me. The number is 202-224-3121, and the phone call actually isn't just for me. It's for my family, and for thousands of families like mine.

You see, the phone number above is for calling your Senator. Tomorrow (Monday) the Senate will start debating the Federal Marriage Amendment. The amendment would effectively make families like mine second class citizens by constitutionally denying even the possibility of accessing right's and protections that you and your family probably take for granted. Here's a brief rundown from an email sent by the Family Pride Coalition.

Crossposted from the Republic of T.

What did Florida Voters do for Supreme Courts to have it in for them? In 2000 it was the U.S. Suprme Court. Now the Florida Supreme Court rules for keeping redistricting in the hands of incumbent politicians, or at least doesn't rule against it.

The Florida Supreme Court today tossed out an effort by grassroots groups to strip redistricting power from entrenched politicians in Tallahassee. The court found the proposed amendment violated the single-subject requirement for citizen attempts to amend the state constitution: it created a new commission to oversee redistricting while also changing the requirements for drawing political boundaries. "We will not address the merits or wisdom of the proposed amendment," the court wrote, but "we agree with the opponents that the proposed amendment does indeed encompass two separate subjects."

This is one of the most interesting and important cases to come along to the Supreme Court of the United States in awhile. The SCOTUS will now rule on (to use an analogy) whether or not Ben Franklin could have/should have patented the law of gravity in order to collect a buck every time something dropped. Of course, the Supreme Court MUST rule correctly in this case, but all bets are off…

Yahoo - Patent No. 4,940,658 describes first how the level of an amino acid called homocysteine can be measured in a patient and, then, how a high level is associated with a deficiency of folic acid or B12. Deficiencies in those two B vitamins can have serious health effects.

Alito is on the court, and the SCOTUS is gearing up to reconsider the constitutionality of partial birth abortions. Let the rending of clothing and gnashing of teeth begin. But while were all whining about how awful the Scalitoson era will be, let's take breather and consider: The Rehnquist Court made 30 rulings in a decade that limited the power of the federal government, and Alito's appointment is likely to accelerate that trend. So instead of complaining, maybe we should capitalize.

The key is state's rights. No constitutional amendment is going to pass if the blue states don't want it to. ERA didn't, and a Federal gay marriage ban won't either. So I think its time we held the Republican's shoulders to the grindstone of state's rights until they bleed. Read all of the great ways Kvatch wants to piss off the conservatives at Blognonymous.

This first published on Two for Tea
The government will announce plans early 2006 for a national zero
tolerance campaign against kerb crawlers and street prostitution see here from
the Guardian.
See also the BBC on the subject here.
Previous position
In July 2004 the Home Office launched a consultation document,
initiation what could have been radical rethink on prostitution laws in
the UK. Ministers were saying they were “open-minded”

The document (here) estimates 80,000 people are involved in
prostitution, the vast majority of them women who were addicted to hard
drugs.

The then Home Secretary David Blunkett said the rethink aimed to do three things:
Prevent girls being coerced onto the streets.
Protect those already in the sex trade
Bring to justice criminals controlling the lives of these women.

The proposals in the document were mostly based on methods used in
other countries. They included creating "managed tolerance
zones", areas of a city or town where prostitutes are allowed to work
while also being targeted with appropriate support in getting out of
the trade. Other ideas included licensing brothels and
registering sex trade workers.

All Change
That has now changed. Ministers are now expected to rule out overhauling the 50-year-old prostitution laws.

The Home Office minister Fiona Mactaggart told the Guardian that
effective policing rather than an overhaul of the laws was the
answer. But she does not explain what the question now is, or why
and how it has changed in the last 6 months

Ms Mactaggart wants a national zero tolerance campaign against kerb
crawlers and street prostitution. She observers that “The power
to confiscate driving licences already exists. We want the police to
use that power more."

The police are expected to be encouraged to set up safe houses and
other schemes to help the women involved get out of the trade. Greater
efforts will also be made to close brothels masquerading as massage
parlours and saunas.

She said tough measures were needed to tackle the markets for
prostitution. "I'm not tolerant of the view that prostitution is the
oldest profession in the world and there's nothing we can do to reduce
it"

She may or may not be able to reduce prostitution, but she will certainly push
it further underground, making prostitutes more vulnerable. But
out of sight is the same as reduction if
you only worry about opinion polls.

You Can Not Be Serious
Ms Mactaggart says she wants to ensure her good work on trafficking is
joined-up with a prostitution strategy that helps women out of
prostitution but also deals with the demand for prostitutes,"

Basically she plans to “join up” trafficking which is illegal and
prostitution which is not, without any new legislation.
So avoiding any parliamentary scrutiny. It is hardly
surprising she wants to avoid parliamentary scrutiny. Her
arguments so far are not impressive.

She points out that men who choose to use prostitutes are
indirectly supporting drug dealers and abusers. The same thing could be
said of any one who employs a drug user in any way. Does she
intend to use this as an excuse to crack down on any one unknowingly but legally
employing a drug user?

Nor does she explain how she plans to rehabilitate 80,000 hard drug
users or
how she expects all these hard drug users to fund their habits once
there customers have been removed. She does not seem to
appreciate that these peoples problem is the drugs not prostitution.

Most worryingly she claims prostitution is a form of child abuse, as
most women who are prostitutes started being prostitutes at the age of
13 or 14.

It is a crime to sexually abuse a child of 13 or 14 whether or not
money is involved. This should be reason to act in itself.

An adult choosing to sell sex is not committing a crime. There is
no legal or moral basis to equate the two. She seems confused as
to what is illegal and what is not.

Someone Who Actually Knows What They are Talking About
Carrie Mitchell, of the English Collective of Prostitutes, told the BBC
that while the Home Office was talking about crime and drugs, women
became prostitutes because of poverty - and punitive measures would do
nothing to help.

"The plan goes against all the evidence that shows that criminalisation
and crackdowns make sex workers more vulnerable to rape, other violence
and even murder," Ms Mitchell told BBC News.

"In Sweden legislation introduced to criminalise the buying of sex has had a devastating effect on prostitute women.

"Neither the poverty that forces women into prostitution to support
themselves and their families - or any of the grave injustices in the
existing legislation - have been addressed."

Ms Mitchell said the use of Anti-Social Behaviour Orders and prison
sentences against women were counter-productive as they made it more
likely they would return to prostitution rather than leave it behind.
She also attacked an increase in immigration raids on brothels run by
international gangs, saying the women ultimately deported at the end of
the process were extremely vulnerable.
We Know What’s Best For Everyone

Ms Mactaggart for her part says she considers it was wrong to regard
those involved in prostitution as sex workers. Although
there was no report as to how she does regarded them. Not to be
trusted with making decisions as to what to do with there own bodies
obviously.

These proposals are expected to form a key part of the next phase of
Tony Blair's drive against antisocial behaviour. Further
reinforcing the perception that anti-social behaviour is now defined as
any kind of behaviour that Tony Blair does not personally approve of.

If the government has decided to outlaw prostitution on moral grounds
then it should come out and say so, and legislate accordingly, rather
than use anti-social behaviour orders in its latest attempt at moral
engineering.

A good post and comments on the subject can be found at
samizdata.net where I found some interesting background on the
Contagious Diseases Acts. Which was all new to me.

Technorati tags : ASBO, New Labour, prostitution, sex

Approximate number of times that the executive branch has asked the Federal Intelligence Security Court for permission to eavesdrop on Americans since 1979: 19,000.

Exact number of times that this court has denied such a request: 5.

(Source credit: Doug Ireland, "A Time to Impeach"...)

There is one argument against the death penalty, that should unite opponents, as well as supporters--a reason that cuts across all political, social, economic, and racial boundaries. Bluntly stated it is this: Governments simply cannot be trusted to decide what constitutes a capital crime because that power has been abused throughout history. Today it's murder, but tomorrow it might be public indecency.

Read the whole post at Blognonymous.

In response to the Daily Mirror revelation about a Memo in which Bush discusses bombing the Al Jazeera HQ in Qatar, some Al Jazeera staffers have set up an unofficial blog titled "Don't Bomb Us" (http://dontbomb.blogspot.com). Here is a post:

These are the men and women who bring you the news at Al Jazeera. We have a diverse staff complement. Our people are made up of dozens of nationalities...Come and have a look at who we are (here is our flickr photoset). We are not afraid of your threats - we are journalists. And there thousands like us around the world. You may be able to kill some of us - but you will never kill us all.

I'm wondering why the US blogsphere is so silent on this Memo? Or am I just not looking in the right places?

Crossposted from The Republic of T.

Talk to me all you want about why gradual social change is the better in the long run, but there's not much of a chance I'll buy it. It's easy to say when you're not the one needing the change to happen, but justice delayed is justice denied to someone. When it comes to couples like Laurel Hester and Stacey Andree, I think the alleged long-term virtues of gradualism will be pretty cold comfort.

When lung cancer finally kills Laurel Hester -- and it will, in a matter of months -- she wants to know that her domestic partner, Stacie Andree, won't lose their home in Point Pleasant.

That legacy, however, is in doubt.

Ocean County's freeholders have refused to act on a request from Hester, an investigator for 23 years in the county prosecutor's office, to provide domestic partner benefits for gay and lesbian employees under a state law enacted last year. Without a resolution by the freeholders, her pension benefits cannot go to Andree.

"That's not what I hoped for with the legislation," said Sen. John Adler (D-Camden), a prime sponsor. "It's a missed opportunity for Ocean County to show that it respects families. ... It's a crummy, cold decision."

The surviving spouse benefit amounts to about $13,000 a year and would be paid from the state pension fund. For Andree, an auto mechanic, the money would "mean the difference in whether or not she can stay in the house," Hester said.

When the Legislature passed the Domestic Partners Act of 2004, it covered all state employees. The act also changed state law to permit -- but not require -- counties, cities and other local government entities to provide pension and health care benefits for domestic partners of their employees.

Summary:
We're entering a season when our children, our angels, may be exposed more frequently to their parish priests. Either chaperone them at all times, or encase them in impenetrable chastity belts. Do you think you might offend your priests? Would you rather condemn your child to a life of hell? Think. Read this issue of the Grindstaff Chronicles.

Crossposted at Last Day of My Life)

one of the great legal lights of our time

Jeb Bush

William Rehnquist on civil rights.

"It is about time the court faced the fact that white people in the South don't like the colored people," Rehnquist wrote. "It [is] not part of the judicial function to thwart public opinion except in extreme cases."

Rehnquist had bizarre ideas on what equal protection meant. During his days as an Arizona lawyer, he fought an ordinance requiring businesses to serve black people. Rehnquist even threatened to punch a man. The reason being is Rehnquist didn't take kindly to complaints that he was intimidating black voters.

Crossposted at Last Day of My Life

A few thoughts on Sandra Day O'Connor announcing her retirement.

1). The Senate filibuster compromise will go out the window.

2). Progressives will be (rightfully) scared that the court will get another Antonin Scalia or Clarence Thomas.

3). Bush will use the same deft political touch to turn the confirmation into another John Bolton disaster.

4). Conservatives will try to overturn Roe V. Wade because Republicans in Congress are too scared to touch that decision. The right has become the the legal activist side with activist judges. The Terri Schiavo fiasco and Scalia's bizarre dissenting opinion.

Crossposted from The Republic of T.

Just what I needed this morning, a reminder of how gays got sold down the river in the Senate compromise people were talking about just last week. Former Alabama attorney General Bill Pryor—described as “the most demonstrably antigay judicial nominee in recent memory”—will likely be confirmed for a lifetime appointment this week. This a guy we’ll be stuck with for the rest of his natural life.

While in his temporary position on the court Pryor cast the deciding vote to uphold Florida’s outright ban on gay adoption. (story) Florida is the only state in the country that explicitly bans children from being adopted by gays and lesbians.

The Radical Right thinks that stem cells and abortion have something in common. In fact they think that these two things have everything in common.

From a legal point of view the definition of when life begins is at stake. If the definition were to allow the destruction of a few cells just after conception, then the issue of outlawing abortion would be hopeless. From the legal point of view one can not have deferent definitions for life for different processes.

So, I stand here today with hope for the pro-choice movement.

It doesn’t have anything to do with justice or rights for women. That wouldn’t rise high enough in priority for the Republicans with the money and power to be able to sway the political machine. It doesn’t really have anything to do with the life of the mother or the life of the fetus. No, it has to do with the life of the sixty-some year old wealthy Republican donors that actually control the direction of the Party.

Crossposted at Last Day of My Life

Man, this is big. A Bush administration neocon goes down hard.

A policy analyst who worked in the office of the undersecretary of defense was arrested today and charged with illegally disclosing classified information relating to "potential attacks" on U.S. forces in Iraq, the Justice Department announced.

In a statement and an FBI affidavit, the government said Lawrence Franklin, 58, passed information to two unnamed individuals at a restaurant in June, 2003. He also is accused of disclosing information to an unspecified "foreign official" and to unnamed members of the news media.

This is it folks. The bankruptcy bill will come up for a vote in the House, word on the street says, today or tomorrow. Please call and write your representatives, editorial pages, etc.

Here's an e-mail I repeatedly tried to send to Representative Moran (met with insane error messages every time):

Dear Representative Moran: 

 

I have written to you before on this matter, but there is one more piece of information that you must have before you before voting on Senator Grassley's bankruptcy reform bill (probably today or tomorrow). It is just this: the names Sean Moyer and Mitzi Pool. 

Sean Moyer and Mitzi Pool are two college kids, with their whole lives before them, who committed suicide because of credit card debt. The full story is on CNN, and it is at this internet address:http://www.cnn.com/US/9906/09/college.kids.debt/

Picking up the torch from Lindsay Bayerstein and Gretchen Ross, I will humbly host the 4th installment of the Carnival of the Un-Capitalists at Red Harvest on April 25th. The CotUC is a weekly round-up of postings on the general theme of the excesses of global capitalism. Your submissions are most welcome. Please e-mail them by April 24th to the Carnie-in-Chief, C. N. Todd: uncapitalist@gmail.com.

The Continental Op

Crossposted at Last Day of My Life

Matt Conigliaro of Abstract Appeal was praised for his blog coverage of the Terri Schiavo case. Conigliaro was praised by fellow law blogger Glenn Reynolds for providing insight to the legal complexities of the case.

Online Journalism Review interviewed Conigliaro about his motivation blogging the case.

Matt Conigliaro: It’s, I guess, a fairly easy answer. I started this weblog regarding Florida law. I'm an appellate attorney, so that's what I do, follow case law for a living so it does merge pretty well with what I do for a living. When this case started to become news I had done relatively few postings on it, other than to just sort of comment on what was going on but didn’t really try to be very insightful. What made me try to be more detailed -- I ended up creating that information page; I literally did it overnight -- I was in the middle of a trial … and I happened to catch a radio show as I was traveling from spot to spot that had the host just screaming about what the case was about, and I knew much of what the host was saying just wasn't true. I knew from reading the appellate proceedings in the case that's not what happened. I was somewhat fed up, and I ended up going home that night, didn't sleep and stayed up all night to write that page.

Look, the Republicans in the House are distracted by all this Schaivo nonsense, but that doesn't change the fact that there's a really evil bankruptcy bill pending, and we need to be lobbying and organizing and fighting this thing.

Here's a massive pile of information condensed from the Atavistic Endeavor (my own blog) to use in fighting this horrible bill.

1. Crooked credit counseling agencies:

One of the more ridiculous provisions in the hateful bankruptcy bill is a requirement that a consumer go to a "credit counseling" agency before filing bankruptcy. Credit counseling agencies, for those who aren't savvy to the life of the poor, are agencies -- largely funded by creditors -- who act as intermediaries between consumers and creditors, negotiating and managing payment plans for debtors who are slightly in default or having trouble keeping up. They're a great idea for the credit card companies etc.: they basically encourage consumers to avoid default.The only problem is, a lot of them are crooked. And I'm not talking crooked but arguably lawful like the credit card companies themselves. I'm talking criminal fraud. One of the biggest crooks, Ameridebt, just got taken down by the Federal Trade Commission.